August 25, 2012

Uganda: Radioactive Japanese cars on the market

Car dealers in the country are selling vehicles that were contaminated by radiation following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami that resulted in a series of meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Sunday Monitor can reveal that a large number of second hand radioactive vehicles that originated from Japan exclusion zone that surrounds the Fukushima prefecture’s power plant have made their way into the used car market in the country. However, what is more worrying is the fact that government is sitting on a report warning that the effects could be fatal. The report was made to it in January 2012.

Most of the radioactive material is said to settle on the body of the car, windows and the seats.
And while neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania have since blocked the importation of such cars into their markets, Uganda, despite sending a taxpayers’ funded delegation to Japan last year, has not taken action on the findings of this delegation.

There is, however, no data to show how many of such contaminated vehicles have entered the country. URA revealed on KFM on Wednesday that between 4,000 to 5,000 vehicles minus motorcycles enter the country monthly from various countries.

MP Stephen Kasaija Kagwera, who heads the House committee on trade, led the five member team that included officials from Uganda National Bureau of Standards. “The most critical issue that calls for immediate action established during the visit is contamination of motor vehicles bound for Uganda by ionizing radiation,” reads the report.

“During the visit, it was established, through random scientific tests as well as motor vehicle inspection records, that many used motor vehicles destined for export markets from Japan, are contaminated with significantly high levels of ionizing radiation, way above recommended levels.”

Trade minister Amelia Kyambadde told Sunday Monitor that she had not seen the report but “they could have submitted it and some people stifled it. I am going to ask my PS; sometimes they don’t tell me.”

However, this newspaper understands that government feared to act on the report for fear that it could have economic repercussions but some officials say there is need to prioritise the health of car users.

Ms Kyambadde, however, revealed that recently a section of Ugandan car importers complained to her that Kenyan authorities had destroyed their cars at Mombasa. “But the Kenyans told me the cars were destroyed because they had nuclear radiation,” she revealed.

Kenyan government has hired Japanese firms to test the cars destined to their market before they are shipped. Sources have told this newspaper that despite reminders by the Japanese Embassy in Kampala to government of the need to check the cars before they leave Japan, there has been inaction since September last year when the matter was brought to government’s attention.

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Car dealers in the country are selling vehicles that were contaminated by radiation following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami that resulted in a series of meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Sunday Monitor can reveal that a large number of second hand radioactive vehicles that originated from Japan exclusion zone that surrounds the Fukushima prefecture’s power plant have made their way into the used car market in the country. However, what is more worrying is the fact that government is sitting on a report warning that the effects could be fatal. The report was made to it in January 2012.

Most of the radioactive material is said to settle on the body of the car, windows and the seats.
And while neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania have since blocked the importation of such cars into their markets, Uganda, despite sending a taxpayers’ funded delegation to Japan last year, has not taken action on the findings of this delegation.

There is, however, no data to show how many of such contaminated vehicles have entered the country. URA revealed on KFM on Wednesday that between 4,000 to 5,000 vehicles minus motorcycles enter the country monthly from various countries.

MP Stephen Kasaija Kagwera, who heads the House committee on trade, led the five member team that included officials from Uganda National Bureau of Standards. “The most critical issue that calls for immediate action established during the visit is contamination of motor vehicles bound for Uganda by ionizing radiation,” reads the report.

“During the visit, it was established, through random scientific tests as well as motor vehicle inspection records, that many used motor vehicles destined for export markets from Japan, are contaminated with significantly high levels of ionizing radiation, way above recommended levels.”

Trade minister Amelia Kyambadde told Sunday Monitor that she had not seen the report but “they could have submitted it and some people stifled it. I am going to ask my PS; sometimes they don’t tell me.”

However, this newspaper understands that government feared to act on the report for fear that it could have economic repercussions but some officials say there is need to prioritise the health of car users.

Ms Kyambadde, however, revealed that recently a section of Ugandan car importers complained to her that Kenyan authorities had destroyed their cars at Mombasa. “But the Kenyans told me the cars were destroyed because they had nuclear radiation,” she revealed.

Kenyan government has hired Japanese firms to test the cars destined to their market before they are shipped. Sources have told this newspaper that despite reminders by the Japanese Embassy in Kampala to government of the need to check the cars before they leave Japan, there has been inaction since September last year when the matter was brought to government’s attention.